Holy River Ganga set to become plastic free soon

Kolkata: The Ganga Jagran Yatra which started a month back from Haridwar in Uttarakhand culminated in Kolkata on Sunday. The ‘rath’, in the past 30 days, covered more than 1,000 kilometres in five states and carried the message of rejuvenating River Ganga.

During the concluding ceremony, Union Minister of States (Independent Charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan showered praise on Dainik Jagran for undertaking a noble attempt to clean River Ganga in order to render it pollution-free.

He said that everyone will have to shoulder his/her responsibility in order to support this initiative adding that the Ganga can be made plastic-free.

In order to execute this task, a number of industries will be set up at many places, including Haridwar, where diesel will be produced from plastic.

The Union Minister also said that Ganga is not only a river but India’s soul flows in it and it’s the responsibility of both government as well as society to make it pollution free.

In an event organized at Kalakunj in the city, Dharmendra Pradhan discussed steps taken by the government regarding Ganga cleansing and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already initiated it by carrying out Ganga Aarti programme.

“Besides, during his first Cabinet meet, the Prime Minister held deliberations on Ganga cleansing decided to take new steps in this direction. He created a separate ministry for Ganga cleansing,” said Pradhan.

He further said that the world’s largest read newspaper Dainik Jagran, standing tall on its name and proving its credibility, conducted a nationwide campaign. Pradhan also said that the country’s largest commercial hub Kolkata is situated along the banks of Ganga and the river can be developed as a major center of transportation, tourism and economic development.

Also present at the programme, Dainik Jagran Group CEO and Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Gupta said that passion and determination matter more than money when it comes to cleansing Ganga.

He said that even small efforts can prove quite useful in this direction and preserve Ganga and this yatra should not be viewed as political one.

He also sounded skeptical of the view that government will provide funds for Ganga cleansing and municipal corporations will do the rest. Everyone will have to show some responsibility towards this critical issue, added Sanjay Gupta.

The CEO and Editor-in-Chief also said that there was a time when people used to take bath at home and then would go to banks of Ganga so that the river does not become dirty but now people take bath at home after taking dip in the river.

West Bengal Sports and Transport Minister Madan Mitra said that India and Ganga are synonym to each other.

Underlining the importance of Dainik Jagran’s initiative; he said that the yatra has given a pledge to restore the importance of Ganga. Inspired by this campaign, Ganga Aarti has become a daily affair in his Kamarhati assembly constituency.